Moses was commanded to build the Ark of the Covenant and
keep the tablets inside where they would be kept safe (Deuteronomy
10:1-5 ). The Lord did not want them to be destroyed or desecrated
by man. Note the Joseph Smith
Translation in verse 2, The Lord rewrote the commandments that were on the
tablet Moses cracked, but they still had the words of the covenant of the priesthood.
The Lord did not command these words to be put in the ark because they needed
these laws and would be responsible for keeping them.
Reading D&C
84:14-27 shows us that the children of Israel denied themselves of
blessings through their disobedience in the wilderness, including having the
Holy Priesthood (Melchizedek) taken away from them. In the Lord’s mercy He left
the lesser priesthood (Aaronic) so that they could repent, be baptized, and receive
a remission of their sins.
The Great Commandment was given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy
11:1, 13-14, 22 and Deuteronomy
30:6, 16, 19-20. Christ gave a very similar commandment to the Jews in Matthew
22:36-40. The Great Commandment is to Love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is to love thy
neighbor as thyself. All of the Laws depend on these two commandments, if you
follow these, you follow all the commandments, if you break one of the others,
you break one of these.
The most important commandment is to Love God. Why would you
follow any of the other commandments if you do not love the being who gave them
to you? If you don’t love Him, then you probably don’t believe that you will be
able to return to Him again someday and become like Him. If you won’t return to
Him or have a day of judgment, then you may as well do whatever you want to in
this life, because it is the only life and after that you’re dead.
But how can we be commanded to love?
It is an emotion, it is the one thing that dictators and tyrants cannot
command, but can God? The answer is that He can require it for us to return to
Him, but we already loved Him in the pre-earth life, we just have to remember
that love and to love Him still.
It is a commandment given over and over again that we must love
the Lord, that we must remember Him and what He has done for us, that we must
not forget Him. Our Heavenly Father wants us to return to Him, and the only way
we will be able to is by remembering Him and what He has done for us in the
past, and what He is willing to do for us in the future so that we will do what
He asks of us. D&C
130:20-21 reminds us that the blessings that we receive here on Earth are
due to obedience to an eternal law.
Let’s look at Deuteronomy
28:1-14, in these verses are a list of the blessings of obedience.
·
The Lord shall set thee on high above all nations of the Earth
·
Blessed in
o
the city
o
the field
o
Blessed in the fruit of the body
o
the fruit of the ground
o
the fruit of the cattle
o
basket and store
o
when come in and go out
o
All that you set your hand to
o
The land you live in
·
The Lord shall cause thine enemies to be smitten when they come
out against you
·
The Lord shall establish an holy people unto himself
·
The people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name
of the Lord
Disobeying the commandments of the Lord Deuteronomy
28:15-65:
·
Cursed in
o
City
o
Field
o
Basket and store
o
Fruit of thy body
o
Fruit of land
o
Increase in kine, and flocks
o
When come in and go out
·
Cursing, vexation, and rebuke on all you set
your hand to
·
Pestilence
·
Consumption, fever, inflammation, burning,
sword, blasting, mildew
·
Serve your enemies
·
Fear the name “THE LORD THY GOD”
Don’t these lists look similar? In what you are blessed for obedience,
so are you cursed for disobedience. Helaman
12:3 states that unless the Lord chastens his people with may afflictions
they will not remember Him. We are given the consequences for disobedience, but
the Lord does not desire to curse His children. Moses 1:39 shows
us that the Lord’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal
life of man. He wants us to come back to Him and that is what He works for
every day.
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